“They wear bulletproof vests and helmets to practice journalism, although they are not in Ukraine or the Gaza Strip. They cover news from Ecuador, where violence linked to drug trafficking transformed their job into a high-risk profession. Killings between prisoners, murders in the streets, shootings, car bombs, political crimes. And the cartel war for drug […]
"Death threats against journalists doubled in Ecuador, this amid the growing wave of violence that is sweeping this Latin American country. According to organizations that defend freedom of the press, death threats doubled compared to 2021 and 2022, when there were between eight and seven. For the year 2023, exactly between January and August, there […]
"A group of Ecuadorian communicators presented on Thursday [Sept. 7] a Commission for the Protection of Journalists (MAPP, by its Spanish acronym), through mechanisms and concrete actions in the face of threats against the life or freedom of reporters. This coordinating forum among civil society actors, press media and communication workers seeks to create networks […]
"The political movement Partido Social Cristiano (PSC) posted a threatening text, in which it criticized and belittled a cartoon by Xavier Bonilla (aka Bonil), titled 'El repartidor [the delivery man].' The cartoon refers to the former assemblyman of the party, Pablo Muentes, and the multiple lawsuits he has filed for allegedly affecting his honor. The […]
"The journalistic team of the digital media outlet La Posta, which reported the so-called Gran Padrino [Great Godfather] case, will request precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for the protection of its integrity. In a program from digital media outlet La Posta, broadcast on Aug. 29, 2023, their representatives, Andersson Boscán […]
"Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso signed on Wednesday [Aug. 23] a regulation to apply a communication law that includes protection mechanisms for the press, threatened by organized crime, he said, and to honor murdered candidate and journalist Fernando Villavicencio. When he presented the regulation he ratified the commitment to strengthen freedom of expression, 'even more so […]
"The Ombudsman's Office of Ecuador has urged the government to reinforce the protection of journalists during the electoral process that will conclude next Oct. 15 with a run-off between presidential candidates Luisa González and Daniel Noboa. The Ombudsman's Office, in a communiqué released this Monday [Aug. 21] which responds to a summary of the national […]
"Fernando Villavicencio has been murdered. The presidential candidate for the Construye movement and former Assemblyman was the victim of a hired assassination on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 9, 2023, while participating in a political rally in the coliseum, located at the intersection of Gaspar de Villaroel and Amazonas avenues, north center of Quito. When he was […]
"After several threats of attacks against their physical and personal integrity, journalists Mónica Velásquez and Andersson Boscán left Ecuador for a safe country. Fundamedios had access to a letter written by the journalists detailing the different threats to which they have been exposed. According to them, since October 2021 they received a first threat from […]
"On March 26, 2018, a team of El Comercio newspaper was captured in the border area between Ecuador and Colombia by the Colombian armed group Oliver Sinisterra Front. Days later, in April, the murder of Javier Ortega (journalist), Paúl Rivas (photographer) and Efraín Segarra (driver) was confirmed, after failed negotiations between captors and Ecuadorian authorities. […]
"The journalist and news anchor of Majestad Televisión Lissette Ormaza publicly denounced that she was the victim of an attack 'disguised' as a traffic accident, orchestrated by those who have been threatening her for several months because of her journalistic work. On Thursday morning [June 22], Ormaza left her house on her way to the […]
"The Second Amazonian Summit on Journalism and Climate Change, the most important event in the field of environmental journalism in the country, will be held June 14-16 in [the city of] Puyo [Ecuador]. This edition will be attended by 46 experts and specialists —national and international— from different academic, scientific, journalistic and environmental activist fields. […]